Jasmine Sealy

I realized that I like intergenerational stories thanks to No Home by Yaa Gyasi. This spans four generations (1962 - 1979 - 2001 -2018). Everything happens on this small island that is Barbados. Who says small says everyone knows everyone, at the slightest misstep, the whole country is aware. The story is fascinating. I like Jasmine Sealy's way of writing. It was interesting to delve into the lives of each of these characters. My favorite has been Nautilus and my least favorite are Cronus and his son Z (which is no surprise since in the case of this book badness is hereditary). I will try to give my opinion on each period:

1962: We meet Iapetus and his brother Cronus, ti djab par excellence (evil ) who kills his father. No one knows, except him. Cronus lives his little life while Iapetus is condemned to a lonely and desperate life. I wish his life had been different, that he had found happiness much earlier and that he realized that he was not so invisible.

1979: We meet the sons of Iapetus and Cronus, Atlas and Z. Z has, of course, inherited from his father, a spoiled child who lives in a beautiful house and thinks everything is allowed and Atlas, is broken in search of truth. It's not easy for him to live without having any idea of ​​his father or his mother and we understand that very well. Unfortunately, all this will leave a kind of dark mark on his soul and disturb him in the future with his own family.

2001: Calypso, daughter of Atlas. Calypso, problematic girl. I didn't like his character. She was surprisingly naive I didn't like Odie EITHER. He was a walking red flag from the start. Too bad Calypso didn't realize this sooner. What I didn't like was how she ended up “punishing” her son as if he was responsible for what happened to her with Odie.

2018: Nautilus, son of Calypso. His mother, an artist, did not see him grow up. She preferred to live in another world instead of being alongside her son who badly needed maternal support (he lives with his grandparents but it's not the same thing). Z is the big boss of the family and he is the one who controls everything and that creates frustration in some family members. I appreciated Nautilus' way of thinking and I wanted to comfort him when he felt alone. Glad that he was able to return to Barbados to find his Daniel.

In 2019, fortunately, the family makes contact with Iapetus, long exiled by his brother Cronus, and the story ends with a nice little touch.

Four stars ladies and gentlemen! Seeing Haitian characters in Antillean books (Freda, Junior's wife, her se yon lòt , another weird character ) hehe, that made me smile.

Again a big thank you to Cindy (@bookofcinz), thanks to her I'm discovering Caribbean islands other than Haiti without setting foot there.

Hugs,

Capucinette
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